New Delhi: India has an overall monsoon deficit of 2% so far, the official weather office said, even as at least five states struggle with heavy rain and flooding.

In the next 3-4 days, northern India will receive better rainfall than the southern parts, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Parts of central India—mainly Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Orissa—will get modest rainfall during the same period, said N. Chattopadhyay, deputy director general of the agricultural meteorology division at IMD in a statement.

North-west and central India have received 5% and 7% more rain than the 50-year average, while the southern peninsula has recorded a deficit of 13%. At 16%, the shortfall is higher in eastern and north-eastern regions.

East Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh experienced heavy showers for one to two days during the last one week. Excess rainfall has led to floods in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and West Bengal. East Madhya Pradesh has received 30% excess rainfall so far.

“A low pressure area that developed around Myanmar during 20-22 August caused heavy rain in West Bengal on 21 August. Due to this, some canals overflowed in that area leading to floods. Farmers were the worst suffers of floods in Bihar, which damaged standing crops like rice, maize, arhar, banana and vegetables,” said Chattopadhyay.

Around 84% of India has received normal to excess rainfall, while 16% is still deficit. The deficit areas include Kerala, coastal Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Saurashtra, Kutch, Diu, Gujarat Region, Daman, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and some of the north-eastern states.

In the coming 3-4 days, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat will get better rainfall than the southern peninsula. Maharashtra will remain mostly dry in the coming week. Farmers are advised to provide protective irrigation for the healthy growth of their crops, added Chattopadhyay.

Deficit regions of south and coastal Karnataka will receive widespread rainfall in the coming week. Kerala will also receive heavy and widespread rainfall on 30 and 31 August, IMD said. Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will also receive heavy and widespread rainfall in the coming week.

According to a Care Ratings report, widespread rains occurred in August with 30 out of 36 meteorological divisions receiving normal to excess rainfall. This has been one of the best performances for the month of August over the last five years, is comparable to the 2013 monsoon.